


Third is the one with the Treasure Chest

by FireflysLove



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Recovering, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, M/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Steve's Nomad costume
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-12 13:11:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7936009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflysLove/pseuds/FireflysLove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve makes the Nomad costume and wakes Bucky up to fix his brain washing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Third is the one with the Treasure Chest

**Author's Note:**

> This is crack and I have no shame. 

It’s nearly two years since Siberia. They’ve woken Bucky up a handful of times, to make sure he’s still functioning properly. Once to try something that didn’t work and resulted in a trashed lab and a broken wrist on Steve’s part. That had been the last time, nearly six months ago. But now Steve’s on his last ditch effort. He’s been working on in non-stop for weeks, and when it finally comes together, he nearly bounces with anticipation. It’s another two weeks until he can use it, waiting for bruises to fade.

He spends one particularly painful evening waxing his chest. Sam walks in on that and then right back out, saying, “Nope, I don’t wanna know what kinky shit you’re into Rogers.” Steve rolls his eyes and rips off another strip.

The next morning he gets up, puts the suit on, fixes his hair, and oils up his now baby-smooth chest. He looks utterly ridiculous, looking in the mirror, but then again, that was the point.

There’s no way to avoid the denizens of Wakanda seeing him as he goes to the lab, so he struts like he means it.

Sam sees him again, and does an about face right back down the hallway he came from.

T’Challa meets Steve in the lab, and raises his eyebrows at the outfit. “Is this your plan then? To… surprise the brainwashing out of his head?”

“That’s exactly the plan,” Steve replies.

T’Challa shakes his head, “It’s not anymore ridiculous than anything else we’ve come up with,” he says. “If this does not work, I believe we will ask Barnes if he will allow Wanda to look inside his head. We have not yet, because of the past trauma. But… well…”

“The worst he can say is no,” Steve says with a shrug. “But maybe this will work.”

“Maybe this will work,” T’Challa replies.

He dismisses the lab technician with a few soft words, and goes over to the cryo chamber’s controls himself.

“Would you like me to stay….?” he asks.

“This will either work or it won’t,” Steve says. “Either way, he’ll still be himself when he wakes up. So no, but thank you.”

T’Challa nods. “The chamber is set to open in three minutes. The red button just to the left will summon assistance instantaneously.”

Steve nods tersely.

“Good luck, Steve,” T’Challa says, putting a hand on Steve’s shoulder and squeezing it as he leaves. Spending two years in someone’s house generally makes good friends, no matter how big or fancy the house is. Steve values T’Challa’s friendship, not just for himself, but for everything he’s done for the Avengers and for Bucky.

But no one will ever take the place that Bucky occupies in his heart.

So T’Challa leaves, the door closing quietly behind him, and Steve waits.

The chamber’s door slides back, steam billowing out rather overdramatically. The machine chimes as it wakes Bucky up in sequence, in the least intrusive manner they could devise. He blinks his eyes, staring at the ceiling for a moment before his hand comes up and scrubs over his eyes.

Finally he looks around. His eyes skid across the room until they lock onto Steve.

More specifically, Steve’s _chest_.

“Goddamn. I must’ve died and gone straight to heaven,” he mutters. “God _damn._ ”

Steve doesn’t say anything. Bucky’s brain seems to have short-circuited.

Finally, he blinks a few times, and sits up, stands up.

“You’re fucking with me,” he says accusingly.

“Nah,” Steve says. “It’s nearly your birthday again, thought you might appreciate a present.”

“Oh, I’ll _appreciate_ something,” Bucky says. He’s got a dangerous look in his eye, but it’s one that Steve recognizes. Not from this century though. This is Bucky’s Determined look. And usually it’s Determined to get Steve out of his clothes.

Steve’s costume, there’s no other truly appropriate word than costume, is quickly removed from his body, and goes flying. Bucky stares at him, all the time muttering about how shiny he is. Steve’s rather reminded of the time _he_ stepped out of a pod to a changed world, and a thousand eyes staring at him.

It’s nearly four hours before Steve gets the opportunity to put some form of clothing back on to go find T’Challa.

 

Steve’s plan works, by some strange miracle. Bucky makes him keep the costume, but makes one small change to it.

“Didn’t your first Cap costume have tights and short shorts?” he asks casually one night.

Steve spits out his drink.

“Yeah, I think you should keep this outfit. But put the shorts back on,” Bucky says.

Steve keeps the outfit.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr.](http://capsbum.tumblr.com)


End file.
